Beating sales records is nothing new at Subaru Canada, the calendar year 2016 resulting in its fifth consecutive best-ever deliveries

The Subaru Forester led the way with the brand’s bestselling status. (Photo: Subaru)

with 50,190 units down the road. A best ever December, up 9.8 percent from 12 months prior, helped push Subaru over the top, the final tally representing a 7.7-percent gain over last year’s total of 46,609 units.
 
“Once again Subaru Canada has exceeded expectations to set a fifth consecutive annual sales record,” said Shiro Ohta, Chairman, President and CEO of Subaru Canada, Inc. “These sales records are a direct result of the quality vehicles, parts and accessories as well as the excellent service we continue to provide our customers. We look forward to setting new benchmarks for 2017.”

The Forester compact SUV, this year’s winner of the Automobile Journalist Association of Canada’s (AJAC) “Best New Small Utility Vehicle” led the way with 1,202

An all-new Impreza helped the model beat the odds and sell well despite a general industry downturn in car sales. (Photo: Subaru)

sales in December, which showed growth of 12.7 percent over December of 2015, and 13,798 unit sales throughout 2016.

The Crosstrek compact crossover also achieved strong results with a gain of 12.4 percent and sales of 673 units in December, the year’s total reaching 9,723 units, while the Outback mid-size crossover enjoyed a 16.5-percent bump with 869 units last month and 11,255 sales over the year.

Also significant, a record number of new WRX/STI models left Canadian Subaru dealerships

Outback continues to sell strongly in Canada and across the border in the U.S. (Photo: Subaru)

resulting in 52.7-percent growth, the result being 4,217 units in 2016 compared to just 3,107 the year prior.

Not posting as dramatic an upturn yet still enjoying best-ever sales was the all-new compact Impreza sedan and five-door hatchback duo that grew yearly sales to 11,673 units after a stronger December than the previous year.

Despite the strong showing from Subaru Canada’s smallest models the general trend across the automotive sector is growth amongst crossovers and SUVs and declining

Car sales are generally down compared to crossovers and SUVs, resulting in a slow year for the lovely BRZ despite a subtle redesign. (Photo: Subaru)

sales for cars, this clearly evident with the only two Subaru models to decrease in sales throughout calendar year 2016. The Legacy mid-size sedan achieved just 3,001 deliveries last year compared to 3,258 units in 2015, although it should be noted that its latest tally was considerably stronger than 2012 through 2014 when it posted just 2,687, 2,022, and 2,924 unit sales respectively, while the BRZ sports coupe found just 740 buyers in 2016 after 800 the year before and a high of 1,119 units in 2013.

Still, with such strong overall growth and a new record high, bypassing the 50,000-unit threshold for the first time ever, Subaru Canada and its network of 92 authorized dealers no doubt celebrated the New Year in style.
©(Copyright Canadian Auto Press)